1. Technological Field
The present disclosure describes, among other things, systems and methods for creating beams from an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) toward user terminals and gateways on the ground. Another aspect of the disclosure includes systems and methods for switching the UAV beams toward the user terminals and gateways as the UAV moves in its orbit. Still another aspect of the disclosure describes systems and methods for routing traffic from user terminals to the internet via multiple gateways.
2. Description of Related Technology
As internet traffic has increased, new technologies are needed to deliver broadband access to homes and enterprises at lower cost and to places that are not yet covered. Examples of current broadband delivery systems include terrestrial wired networks such as DSL (Digital Subscriber Line) on twisted pair, fiber delivery systems such as FiOS (Fiber Optic Service), and geo-stationary satellite systems. The current broadband access systems have a number of short comings. One issue is lack of service in remote and/or lightly populated areas. Geo-stationary satellites do provide service in remote areas of the developed world such as the United States. Poorer areas of the world, however, lack adequate satellite capacity.
A notable reason satellite capacity has not been adequately provided in poor regions of the world is the relatively high cost of satellite systems. Due to adverse atmospheric effects in satellite orbits, satellite hardware must be space qualified and is costly. Launch vehicles to put the satellites in orbit are also costly. Moreover, due to the launch risk and the high cost of satellites, there may be significant insurance costs for the satellite and the launch. Therefore, broadband satellite systems and services are relatively costly and difficult to justify, particularly in poorer regions of the world. It is also costly to deploy terrestrial systems such as fiber or microwave links in lightly populated regions. The small density of subscribers does not justify the deployment cost.
Despite the broad variety of ways for providing broadband access to consumers in the prior art, none achieve the desired level of flexibility and cost, particularly for consumers that reside in remote or sparsely populated geographic areas. Moreover, terrestrial based methods for providing broadband access to consumers do not provide the requisite flexibility for changing populations and densities. Accordingly, methods and apparatus are needed that provide the requisite level of desired flexibility and cost for providing broadband access to consumers.